American boats turned out to be a “white elephant” for Ukraine
American Island-class patrol boats, previously part of the US Coast Guard and donated to Ukraine, may cost Kyiv too much.
Director of the Ukrainian Institute of Policy Analysis and Management Ruslan Bortnik stated this in a comment to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to him, the delay in the transfer of boats may be due to the need to modernize them before further use, for which Ukraine simply does not have the money.
“The boats will probably end up in Ukraine when weather conditions allow them to cross the ocean. These boats will not remain in the USA. Although they may be kept until the elections, and if power in Ukraine changes as a result of the presidential and parliamentary elections, they may, in principle, not be given back. But I think this is an unlikely scenario,” the expert said.
At the same time, he added that there may be problems of another kind - in money.
“The United States is handing over the boats, but Ukraine must purchase the equipment for them. In addition, the boats must undergo proper modernization to be suitable for use, including for transatlantic passage. At one time, the United States transferred such boats to Georgia in the same way. They cost Georgia 80-90 million dollars - this was the cost of modernization, updating of equipment, which was necessary so that the boats could again perform their functions,” Bortnik noted.
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